In this paper we extend the results of the research started by the first author in which Karlin-McGregor diagonalization of certain reversible Markov chains over countably infinite general state spaces by orthogonal polynomials was used to estimate the rate of convergence to a stationary distribution. We use a method of...
A historical record of Pacific Northwest (defined here as west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon) heat waves is identified using the U.S. Historical Climate Network, version 2, daily data (1901–2009). Both daytime and nighttime events are examined, defining a heat wave as three consecutive days above the...
We design a commitment device for college students, “Study More Tomorrow,” conduct a randomized controlled trial testing a model of its takeup, and measure its effect on tutoring attendance and grades. The device commits students to attend tutoring if their midterm grade falls below a pre-specified threshold. Unlike other commitment...
Global warming is expected to cause significant changes in the pattern of precipitation minus evaporation (𝑃 − 𝐸), which represents the net flux of water from the atmosphere to the surface or, equivalently, the convergence of moisture transport within the atmosphere. In most global climate model simulations, the pattern of...
Managing multiple ecosystem services (ESs) across landscapes presents a central challenge for ecosystem-based management, because services often exhibit spatiotemporal variation and weak associations with co-occurring ESs. Further focus on the mechanistic relationships among ESs and their underlying biophysical processes provides greater insight into the causes of variation and covariation among...
Broadband absorption spectroscopy, by way of FTIR, was used to investigate the vapor cloud of a single millimeter sized liquid droplet suspended by a syringe as it evaporates at standard conditions. Single beam data were collected every 8 seconds resulting in a time-resolved record. Species concentrations were tracked using their...
Vegetation carbon uptake and respiration constitute the largest carbon cycle of the planet with an annual turnover
in the order of 120 GT. Currently, neither ecosystem carbon uptake (through photosynthesis) nor ecosystem
carbon release (through respiration) can be measured directly during the daytime. Instead, flux-tower measurements
rely on nighttime respiration...
Nitrobacter hamburgensis X14 is a facultative lithoautotroph that conserves energy from the
oxidation of nitrite (NO
2 ) and fixes carbon dioxide (CO2) as its sole source of carbon. The
availability of the N. hamburgensis X14 genome sequence initiated a re-examination of its
mixotrophic and organotrophic potential, as genes encoding...
Parasites and pathogens influence the size and stability of wildlife populations, yet many population models ignore
the population-level effects of pathogens. Standard survival analysis methods (e.g., accelerated failure time models)
are used to assess how survival rates are influenced by disease. However, they assume that each individual is equally
susceptible...